Their tragic deaths are seared into the consciousness of every food allergy parent: Karanbir Cheema, a 13-year-old with an allergy to milk, died at the hands of schoolyard bullies who threw cheese at him in 2017. 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died on a flight to France in 2016 after eating a sandwich she thought was safe from sesame purchased at Heathrow. Owen Carey died in the arms of his girlfriend in 2017 while celebrating his 18th birthday after eating chicken from a takeout restaurant that he was assured contained no dairy.
Today, the British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI) and ITN have released a news-style program entitled “Allergy and Clinical Immunology – Attention Needed!” to raise awareness and education about allergies and anaphylaxis to help improve health outcomes and prevent the tragic loss of life.
The program hears from families who have lost loved ones to anaphylaxis and how those devastating deaths could have been avoided. To bring change to prevent further loss of life, BSACI highlights the importance of greater awareness, education and training in schools and society, clearer messaging and information across food packaging and restaurant menus and the importance of checking dates on life-saving medication as some of the fundamental factors critical to improving outcomes.
There are seven video segments that comprise the program. This is the second in the series which we found most salient for the food allergy community.
Parents who have lost children to food allergies speak out
Here follows the remainder of the video segments dealing with such topics as the challenges facing the food allergy community during the pandemic, auto-injector concerns, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria and Hereditary Angioedema.
Please note that some of the segments were produced in association with pharmaceutical companies. We’ve included the name of the company in the title.
Introduction and discussion of challenges of coping with food allergies during the pandemic
Discussion of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)
Discussion of anaphylaxis and epinephrine auto-injectors — sponsored by Mylan
Discussion of Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (Hives) — sponsored by Novartis
Discussion of Hereditary Angioedema — sponsored by Takeda
Short wrap up and credits
The Safe Snack Guide Halloween 2020 Edition is Here to Make the Holiday a Bit Less Scary
